A farewell and a greeting

Zaaz was adopted on Memorial Day. I was completely unprepared for that to happen. I think she found a great home though, so it's hard to be too sad. (But oh how I miss those eyes!)

Another reason not to be sad is Tucker!


This one's *ours*! His mom and siblings were rescued from a kill shelter 7 weeks ago. The day he turned 8 weeks, we picked him up. He's the biggest boy of the batch, at 2lbs, 3oz.

We've been wanting to get Squirrel a buddy, so I was very excited to find out about these kittens. Unfortunately, Squirrel is not yet interested in being his friend - though she is fascinated by him. We'll see!

The rain has finally stopped and has left nice cool days, acres of green green grass, and some very satisfied horses!


Aren't they a cute little herd? Really though, this is such an ideal situation for a horse. 24/7 turnout on 30+ acres with a happy, healthy group of horses. Safe fences, shade, and a natural watering hole. I love it, and I hope Addy does too.

Speaking of love - who doesn't love feathers?! Addy's are thin for much of the year (darn that Thoroughbred half!), but they're looking pretty good at the moment. So freakin' cute.



I think I've finally figured out a way that I can actually ride several times a week, even when we have a foster dog around. And it will be perfect for when the days start getting hotter, too. Just need to talk to the boss. I get so depressed knowing I have such a cute, capable mare just living her life out in a pasture. She's one of those mares that likes to work too.



Someday we'll get back in shape. Hopefully before winter. ;)

Zaaazie!

It's been awhile! Life has been busy. No real knitting content to add, as all my current projects are top secret. ;) (Well, except for the Puppy Love sweater, and I have yet to get good pictures of that.)

So, here's our latest foster hound, Zazie!


Is that not the most adorable face!? I was smitten with her the instant I saw her photo online. When I found out she was to be our foster dog, I was incredibly excited. And then I met her!

I seem to fall for animals that are timid and/or skittish. Maybe it's the underdog in me? Whatever it is, Zazie seems meant for me.


I wish wish wish we could keep her. Unfortunately, it would mean hiring a dog walker several days a week just so I could go ride Addy. I asked around - that's ~$18 a pop. Ugh. Adopting Zazie would also restrict our ability to go backpacking on random weekends, which is something we hope to start doing now that we have most of the gear we need. And then there's also the issue of moving to another country. I know that animals can be imported/exported.. but do I really want to put a pup through that twice in a few years? (Since we'd be moving there and back again.) I'm unsure about doing that with the animals we currently have. I don't want to be irresponsible just because those cute little eyebrows look worried, or the one ear flops over. And I don't want to fall for that enormous smile.

Hopefully she'll get adopted into the perfect family soon.

In other news, we have a (partial) garden! This was a huge undertaking, and I nearly turned it over to the pros a few times. It's not nearly as fancy as it could be, but I am so proud of what R and I accomplished.

It involved lots of planning. (If only I still had all those sheets of paper!) Many trips to many nurseries. Digging out hard-packed clay. Extracting rocks and roots.


And the trellis. My darling R actually built that for me!



We dug all those rocks, and piles more, out of the little bit of ground that was to be the garden. The exciting part is that I got the rock border that I wanted at the price that I wanted to pay ($0). Jackpot!


I wanted native plants that would grow in morning sun, require minimal care, and would attract butterflies and bees. I think I accomplished all that.

There is still a little left to do, but we have gotten the hard part out of the way. Wooohooo!