admiring beauty

The kids and I went into town today and at the request of my husband took the camera and I'm SO glad I did, what a glorious day to capture the beauty of fall! I am so blessed to live in an area where, just before the dreariness of November and the long cold winter, we are given such a spectacular display of color you cannot help but stop and admire Creation!

* can't you just see the sheep and horses that should be in this pasture!

Every time I drive past this barn it makes me smile, trying not to covet it, I think of the stories this barn could tell, I imagine myself sitting in the hay loft 100 years ago listening to the rustle of the hay as a happy cow chews her cud and a proud ewe looks protectively at her lambs. A calico cat curling up in a hideaway known only to it, resting after a long day of hunting mice. I imagine carriages it proudly protected and the dances it has known and the blood, sweat and tears it has seen from the farmers who have worked within it's walls. It evokes images of a much simpler way of life.

And this is my barn; nestled privately amongst the woods, off the beaten path, on land that has it's own story and fulfilling life long dreams. My barn doesn't have the history of the barn above, but it has an uncanny way of connecting the dreams of my past with the dreams of my future.

a beautiful fall day

the rest of the pictures

Yesterday we took the goats on a walk into the woods, well the purpose was to go to the top of the hill and take the annual fall pictures. Having the goats along made for some interesting pictures and much needed cropping. While I was setting the self timer on the camera, Katie (the goat) was certain we wanted her to be in the picture and would wait just off camera until just before the picture was taken and walked in. Ugh! Oh well, memories!
Just last year this was Andrew, I don't think he's changed that much, but he certainly doesn't look like my baby anymore...

And beautiful Faith, oddly enough looks older last year, I think it's the hair. Too quickly they grow up!

Good friends, I'm so proud of how well they get along!

Andrew and Buckley

My budding artiste!

And all of us together in the one picture I could crop the goats out of!

Oh NO!

Sooooooo not ready!

...having the right tool...

As I've mentioned before there is a lot to be said for having the right tool for the job, case in point a leaf blower makes huge smiles on children's faces appear more quickly then when raking conventionally. This weekend I blew up a huge pile of leaves for the kids to jump in, they had the idea to let the goats join in the fun as well, much to my delight the kids (all 4 of them) had a blast. Kate and Buckley enjoyed their time by laying in the center of the pile and treating it as their own personal snack bar... Faith and Andrew enjoyed their time refilling the said snack bar.


A birthday gift from my husband in the way of an axe made chopping the wood much easier than the previously mentioned hatchet that I'd been using. It now only takes 1-2 swings to split the wood instead of 4-5. It's way faster. It probably only took me 20 minutes to split all the wood in the photo below and some of those pieces needed to be split into 5-6 chunks! I'm really looking forward to having all the wood split and stacked and out of the driveway.

Hoof prints on the side of the road...

There is something soul satisfying about the clop-ker-clop cadence of my horse and I as we ride down the road on a brisk fall day, leaves rustling and pine needles swooshing under foot as we go along. This afternoon I was in a foul mood after a series of events that went south so I brought Garlic out of the pasture and but a bit in his mouth and climbed aboard bareback and took off out the driveway. Not having a plan when I left I just knew I needed to go, so that's what I did. We rode up our road and through the woods on a path where the trees come together at the tops as if to greet one another in a warm embrace; we traveled along the main road that runs through our small community and turned onto one of my favorite dirt roads. The trees along the sides of the road are many but the colors of the Maples against the dark Pine green is inspiring and beautiful, and if you hit it just right and the sun shining through them it's as if they were lit up just for you. We rode down and back along the road in serene quietness and thoroughly enjoyed our time out. On the way back home I noticed the hoof prints in the gravel and it reminded my of my childhood; I would be traveling in a car looking out the window and see others that had been made by another trusty steed and think how much fun that would be. To the little girl out there that will likely see the ones we made today I say this, your time will come and the wait will be worth it.

Colors of the Fall