On Friday, we took a trip to check out a couple of ponies. We have been looking for a new pony for Alex to replace Precious. We decided to bring home Dakota on a 2 week trial. He is a 6yo grade pony of uncertain breeding, but suspected Welsh/Arab cross. He is a little greener than we hoped, but we are going to try him out for a couple of weeks and then decide.
On your next family vacation, pay to send 1 large dog crate in the cargo space of the airplane. It is cheaper than buy all those seats.
Vicki loves to bake. I fact, in the past 8 days, she has baked and decorated 2 batches of cupcakes and 2 birthday cakes. Today, she worked with Grandma to bake a cake for Grandma’s birthday, and then she got to do the decorations.
Grandma and Grandpa made the drive from AL to CT to join us for Thanksgiving. The kids have been counting down the days until they arrived (Tuesday). Last night the enjoyed a game of go fish.
Every time Turbo gets pulled up into a lap, Mack decides to climb up into mine.
This evening, we decided to have a little family time. The kids have reached the age when they needed to watch The Goonies. So, after dinner, we had movie time. The brownies just came out of the oven and will be served with some ice cream during the intermission.
This morning we processed 8 roosters being raised for meat. And tonight we will eat the one Vicki named Butter. She was very excited to finally eat a leg that she had been watching grow since May.
Our new house has a nice fireplace with an integrated blower. However it doesn’t have an insert. It heats thw house nicely, but since it is so large, Anna feels compelled to make a big fire. I think we will need more wood this year.
Precious is our red little pony, well technically chestnut, and we’ve had her for 4 years now. She is in her mid teens somewhere and probably some kind of Quarter pony mix. She has lots of go and has never really been a beginner pony. She loves to trail ride and used to do some barrels. Alex loves this pony. Last fall she started rearing in the ring when asked to trot. Faced with safety issues for the kids we gave her some time off, which didn’t solve the issue. She has had massage and chiropractic adjustment which revealed lower back and pelvic pain, as well as tightness around the withers and chest. She is also fat and out of shape with a significant swayback. So, Precious is going to do some driving and I’m going to do some ground work with her to get her back in shape and lift her back. Alex is going to ride her on walking trail rides.We aquired a harness and cart this past week and have started ground driving. The kids are excited to be working on something new. Vicki wants to get the other ponies driving too. And yes, Precious may just be acting up and be ring sour, but we are going to get her in shape and let me (Anna) ride her some and see if she behaves better. Stay tuned for updates.
This weekend, Alex and I have been camping with his Arrow of Light den and members of Troop 20 from Griswold. After we moved, I gave Alex the choice of finishing with his old den, moving to the local Pack, or dropping out of scouts. He chose to move to the new Pack so he would know more boys at school and when he continued into the Troop. So, we are camping at the Camporee this weekend.
Of note, we have a basic grey chuck box with us. It doesn’t stand out compared to many that are around other sites, but this one has a panther painted on the lid. My father, Alex’s grandfather, built that chuck box when he was in the panther patrol almost 50 years ago. And so, the tradition continues. Thanks Dad.
