Unrest. . .

Thursdays have become pretty routine with the day centering around Gloria's horse lessons. Today there was something in the air, however, that seemed to cause chaos in my day and even among the horses. It's hard to explain but I guess you could say it was an unsettled feeling. Maybe it was the weather or maybe my blood pressure is up again but I had a feeling of unrest all day. The horses seemed to feel it, too. Before I was in a position to take pictures, these two horses were running and rearing up on their hind legs, pawing at the air. . .

Of course, as soon as I had my camera ready, they merely paced around and pawed at the ground a bit. . .


The ponies in the arena seemed a bit off as well. It wasn't especially noticable although they seemed to move a little faster than usual. . .

At first, the lesson was pretty routine as Kim talked to the kids about the importance of communicating with your horse. She's a great instructor and most of the kids are beginning to understand how to really ride.

The weather was uncooperative and very, very cold with a drizzle of icy rain sprinkling the horses, the kids and the riding arena. I felt like my bones were frozen in the middle. Towards the end of the 30 minute riding lessons, the biggest pony, Steele, decided he had had enough of everything as he tossed his head and started to gallop around the tiny arena. I understood completely. Fortunately his rider was able to stay on and Kim, the instructor, was able to stop him before he did any damage. The unexpected, semi-traumatic experience was handled very professionally by the two instructors as Kim rode Steele around, talking to him in a firm but gentle voice and Sarah, the other instructor, put the student who had been traumatized on the back of another horse and had her practice trotting in a safe, manageable way. It made for a pretty exciting lesson. . .

The next two groups had a difficult time as well although it wasn't necessarily due to the horses. It was just a weird day.

I'm writing this post at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night and that unsettled feeling is still with me. Maybe it's because the snow continues to fall steadily outside and we're driving to Portland at 8:00 in the morning. Or maybe I should just take my blood pressure medication and go to bed. . .

BFF's

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Creativity. . .

These are pictures of little glow sticks in the hands of several very creative kids. . .

Breakin'

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Back to the Cabin. . .

The only bad thing about going to the cabin is having to leave the cabin. It happens every time. I think that if I knew we would be going back soon, maybe it wouldn't bother me so much, but our trips up there are few and far between so that makes leaving so much harder. When we were there for New Year's, I figured it would be at least several months before we would be back, so when I found out Rob's dad needed a little help fixing the belt on his snow blower, the wheels in my mind started turning and making a plan. . . Rob would need Kurt's help, of course, and I would need to be there to entertain the kids and, well, someone has to make french toast. Everything fell into place almost at the last minute and we headed for the cabin late Thursday evening. Kurt and two of his kids were able to join us . . .
We played a few games and introduced them to spoons which had quite a few hilarious moments. . .

Even with all the commotion going on inside, the deer came looking for Twinkies. . .

The kids threw bread out to feed the animals. . .

I never get tired of seeing these animals up close and personal.

It was pretty cool and very, very cold. . .

I'm usually the first one up in the morning when we stay at the cabin since Emma and Lucy start pacing as soon as the sun comes up (and need close supervision when they go out) but it pays off because the animals are close by and hungry!

These deer aren't easily spooked but they ran for the river when they heard the dogs come out.
I was afraid the ice would break with all of them stampeding across it, but it must be good and thick since they just stopped and stared at me, somehow knowing that I represented their breakfast. . .

Rob's dad has been very kind and consistent over the years in feeding the cabin animals. At last count he has 6 raccoons, 22 deer, a whole bunch of turkeys as well as fat little quails and blue jays.

The animals don't seem to mind eating together. . .

I really think they've come to think of this place as their winter home. . .

It's amazing that you can stand out on the deck, just a couple of feet away, and literally hit them on the head with a dinner roll and they won't even flinch.

After breakfast, they guys got busy fixing the snow blower since, after all, that was the reason we were at the cabin. . .

It didn't take too long and the kids were (mostly) patient while they waited to go sledding. . .

It was so worth the wait!!!!

Kurt and Rob took out two snowmobiles and hooked up the sleds with ropes. . .

The meadow was pretty much untouched since our last sledding adventure and the conditions were just perfect. . .

The sun was shining, the kids were smiling and the adults got to forget about reality for a little while. . .

At the end of the day, everyone had at least one trophy wound or bruise and plenty of sore muscles but I think we would all agree that it was well worth it.

It was exhausting . . .

. . . but soooo much fun.

Of course, the leaving part always puts a damper on it for me but Rob promises we'll be back soon. . . and more often. . .