SHOW AND FARM NEWS
2010
As the saying goes, "When one door closes, another one opens". This year we are heading in a new direction with Nugget. He will debut his 3rd level dressage and after then I plan on getting him out and about with some cross country riding - over the jumps.
Patty and I have decided to go our separate ways. Its been 3 years now with the dressage training (and nothing else) and although dressage is nice, its not the "be all" of my Welsh ponies. I wish Patty all the best of luck with her Welsh Cob FF Frampton and Welsh B pony Smoke Tree Belle Star and her sport pony breeding endeavours. Patty did a good job with Nugget down in California this spring getting many first places in 2nd level at both the Burbank Show and the Rancho Murieta show and many nice compliments were given about Nugget.
Showing is going to be drastically cut back this year as my husband has to go in "again" for heart surgery in July and Alan is moving out into his own place here in Olympia in late June so there is lots to do for the big move. Sarah has a new Beau in her life so we rarely ever see her anymore, empty nester time I guess.
Patty's first "sport pony" will be born first week of July and the sire is Nugget out of an Arabian mare. That will be fun to see.
Starbbuck has been gelded and is up on the For Sale page. He is such a sweetie, and will be tall at around 13hh.
Its time for a new web site, I will start overhauling it this summer when I get time.
2009
Nugget did us proud, out of 22 entries he garnished a 6th place ribbon in First Level test 4 and again a 6th place ribbon in 2nd level test 4 at the Championships in Devonwood, Oregon. He was the perfect gentleman and did his job impeccably.
He has also qualified as Champion Section B Welsh in the All American Region 6 All Breeds award sponsored through USDF.
Not only in 1st level but in 2nd level also!!!!!
Woo hoo!! Photos to come!!
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AUGUST 2009 - After only going to 3 shows (one in May, June and July, doing both First and Second Levels) Nugget has qualified for (in both levels 1 and 2) the USDF dressage Regional's which take place at "Dressage at Devonwood" in Sherwood, OR, Sept 25th - 27th 2009. See you there!
April 2009: Not only have we bought 2 new ponies off Kathy Reese in April 2009 but we also have a lovely colt born here on April 28th out of our section B mare Doremi. We are not sure about his colour but his mane is black so we think he might be buckskin but could be wrong. We couldn't be more pleased. He was 2 weeks late but she finally gave birth at around 1.30am with me helping as midwife. Both are doing well. He is a good size, already over 10 hands at 12 weeks.
Taken at 4 days old
Ann Daum of SD had her third Nugget foal born in April and it's a pretty buckskin filly. She is full sister to Firefly.
Isn't she gorgeous?
ALSO - SHOW RESULTS 2009
Nugget went to his first show of the season at Donida Farm doing first and second level and he scored mid 60's for second level and upper 60's and a 70 for first level. In a class of 10 he came in first place with 70% and a class of 9 he came in second place with 67%.
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March 2009 - We are expecting 2 new Welsh section B ponies in April. Both are from the Smoke Tree farm in Arkansas and we want to thank Kathy Reese for all her help with choosing these 2 beauties for our dressage pony program. Pictures coming soon! See them on the YOUNGSTOCK's page.
Rachel has a new owner, she will be shown in the hunters this summer. Congratulations Anni.
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2008 News
Just in.... Go Diego (sired by our very own Smoke Tree Gold Fever) scored a Gold Premium of 8.0 at his inspection !!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS to his owner Ann Daum of Solomon Farms
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Sept 2008....Nugget qualified for the ODS championship show through receiving good scores at the other recognized shows this past summer. This show took place at Devonwood Equestrian Centre and what a beautiful place it is!!
In a class of 14 entries, 3 of whom sadly scratched, Nugget came in a very respectable 7th place for Training Level Test 3 & 4 Open Class with an overall median score of 64%. It was such fun to see all the horses and this one pony (Nugget) go cantering around the arena together with their pretty ribbons flying from their bridles.
Cindy Miller (Winterlake Cobs) very generously gave a $50.00 gift voucher to the highest scoring Welsh in the show and Nugget was the honorable recipient of that gift. There were 4 Welsh competing but sadly Cindy's Cob Cardi had to scratch from the show, the others were North Forks Lord Persie, Nugget and a small grey B gelding called Christopher Robin were all in contention for this one award. - It was a fun filled weekend with both Sarah and I volunteering to help out both days and we were given a golf cart and told to pick up the score sheets which made for interesting reading!! It was hot and dusty on both days. Our hotel in Newburg had an indoor pool but neither of us got the chance to take a dip. On Sat night we met up with Patty, her husband Sam and some other wonderful people at the show ground for a pot luck bar-b-q dinner and laughed the evening away. How nice to get away and have such fun. I hope that Nugget will qualify again next year.....here's hoping. Photos to come.
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July 2008 - Patty and Nugget have done it again!! This show was again at Donida, Auburn and it ran for three days and each day Nugget had 2 classes, one for Training level and one for First level. Of the 6 classes entered, he won three of them (2 Training level and one First level), came in second, third and fourth for the rest. Since Nugget and Patty scored a huge 72% for one of his training level classes they consequently earned the title of CHAMPION highest score in training level for the whole show and won a lovely navy cooler and a glass award!! What a weekend!! I am still floating on cloud 9.
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July 2008 - We have just got back from a weekend Dressage show at Forest Park which, luckily for us was only a 15 mins drive away to get to. I love it when these shows are so close to home. Patty was concentrating on the Training and First level tests and Nugget was able to pull off 2 first places and 2 4th places over the weekend classes. He entered 4 classes all told and won two of them; one First Level and one Training Level. What a star he was - again. Patty and Nugget also managed to win the high point award for training level as they scored a whopping 69%, the highest of the weekend. He has such an EXCELLENT work ethic this pony. Another pony was competing at this show, a pony we used to own named Tally, a 13.1hh section B grey gelding that I bought off a breeder in OR. He scored a very good 66% in his First level class placing him 3rd. It was a good show for the 2 Welshies there.
It rained on July 4th, otherwise hot and sunny....in the 90's on some days.
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June 2008 - Nugget won two
of his 5 classes scoring 68% and 67% doing training level test 4 and 1 test
(respectively) on Friday and Saturday, HOWEVER, the biggest thrill came on
Sunday with the last class of the day, a FIRST level test 1 class with 8
entries was in full swing, this was Nuggets first show doing FIRST level
tests ......AND.....(hold on to your hats) NUGGET WON THAT CLASS
beating Big Name Trainers on fancy big horses with the score of 65%!!
What a perfect ending to a long weekend.
WAY TO GO NUGGET AND PATTY! Patty had some brilliant rides on him and h
e
was so well behaved.
We had the pleasure of meeting Ginger Mack and Cindy Miller at this show, both ladies were rooting for Nugget being as they are big fans of the Welsh breed. Cindy owns in partnership with Jessica Wisdom the wonderful Welsh section D Cob North Forks Brenin Cardi; he debuted his Prix St George test at this show at age 7 yrs, what an awesome Welsh Cob he is!! (picture left).
Warm and dry this year; unlike last year where it POURED all weekend. Rachel is up in Vaughn and is doing "Just great" says Anni.
Top picture North Fork's Brenin Cardi (Cob) and below Smoke Tree Gold Fever (section B).
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FOALS of 2008 Just got news that Ann Daum's mare Lelady had a bay colt foal this morning 2nd April named Go Diego. Also, on the 2nd May, Freckles, a POA mare had a cute palomino filly with a white blanket over her rump! Chloe had a nice looking palomino colt on the 16th April. Pictures on the FOALS page.
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FEB 2008 It's already February!! Where has the time gone? Nugget is already well into his training with Patty who has recovered from her hip surgery. Sadly (for us) we sold Chloe in January so no foals being born here for us this spring, her new family in Issaquah will be having that privilege.
Ellie went up to Vaughn to get some training with Anni but had to come back 3 weeks later due to an abscess in her front hoof. The farrier is coming out and will pull her shoes and we shall see how it goes. Rachel is coming slowly back into work, she is shedding like mad so we are going to wait until she is done with before climbing on board. I am all set to take Nugget to his dressage shows this year, Patty and I have already marked our calendars and I have paid all the USEF and USDF dues on him and myself etc, ugh major expensive this showing lark....!! Can't wait to see the foals by Nugget this year.
2007
DEC 30th The kids are on holiday from school until 3rd Jan so we decided (Sarah and I) to take Ellie and Nugget up to Anni Grandia's farm for some exercise and also to say goodbye to Promise as she is now sold to a wonderful family for their little girl, Juliana. The weather has been very temperamental with occasional VERY heavy rain and then snow but today it was not so bad, just very chilly at 39 degrees with some light rain, a bit of snow and some sun come through.
Nugget was is total shock as we tacked him up and led him into the indoor arena. Anni jumped on and around they went, he started with lots of enthusiasm and eagerness but after about 10 mins of flat work he started to fade, he is so unfit from being off work. Before we put him away he was asked to go over a couple of ground poles and he really picked up his feet nicely. He showed us a very nice form over the small fences with a good bascule and nicely tucked up legs. However, with his level of fitness we didn't want to push him too much so he was put away.
Next to go was Ellie and she gave her all and jumped the jumps with great gusto but at times she was a little squiggly going towards the rails and leapt over the edge/wing instead of the actual jump giving Anni a couple of surprises. She was enthusiastic, never refusing (if you call jumping the wing a refusal or not) and was quite bold and of course is much fitter than Nugget so lasted a bit longer in the arena. We left Anni at around lunch time (after giving Promise some carrots and a fond farewell) which was just in time as then the heavens opened up on us and snowed/rained during the one hour journey home.
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Dec 27th I took a lesson on Ellie at Patty's place today and had to come to terms with the fact that I am grossly unfit; having no core or leg strength making my aides totally ineffective and my seat is way too loose, consequently I was bouncing all over poor Ellie's back like a ping pong ball and came home quite upset with myself for allowing me to get this way. Time for a New Year's resolution of more work outs, weight lifting and time on the treadmill, especially on those long cold rainy days that are very common this time of year. Could also help myself by losing 10lbs....for my height and frame that is the amount (I found out) I need to shed. ~groan~
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Nov 15th It seems like winter is here already, we have already had one major storm pass over us knocking trees over and leaving our neighbourhood with no cable and electric. Thanks heavens Chris managed to sell our old generator and buy us a fancy new bigger electric start up one just in time.
Mud is becoming more and more apparent in the paddocks now and the ponies are turning into hippos as they enjoy wallowing in it. Nugget is showing us his new colours these days quite gleefully; little pig. Patty is home now from her operation and she is miserable with not being able to ride, so we wish her a very speedy recovery!
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Nov 2nd Autumn didn't seem to happen, the wind and rain hit us here hard and suddenly. Right now we have cold nights at near freezing and cool but sunny days in the 50's. I wonder what winter will bring when we finally get into Jan. The ponies (except Ellie, typical thin skinned sparsely coated TB that she is) are all hairy and fat, thankfully we had loads of grass this year thanks to all the extra rain so feeding hay has been at a minimum and with having to pay around $10.00 a bale that has been a welcome relief.
I enjoyed my first trail out on Ellie today since we get her. She behaved like a typical youngster like she has never walked through a carpet of fallen leaves ever before, looking at people walking towards her with their dogs like they were Halloween monsters, overall I was really pleased as she did very well considering. I was also in good company with my friend Robin on board her horse Drifter to keep us company. Sure nice to have that help and support when schooling these "youngsters/greenies".
Patty is having hip surgery so Nugget is having the next couple of months off from work. He really seemed to enjoy the rides with Patty as he was always eager to climb into the trailer and get going in the arena with his supplying exercises and transitions. Patty is really considerate and kind with him and she kept his lessons short and easy but also challenged him and he would always come through with flying colours with any new exercises and movements she would ask of him which I am sure helped his attitude immensely. How many 3 years old do I know that can happily counter canter inside only 5 months of training?? Can't wait to get him out there showing again next year.
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Sept 8-9th Just got back from Donida where they held the Oktoberfest hunter/jumper show with Promise. She showed on both days and was the most perfectly well behaved pony ever, Joel, her 16yr old rider had a blast on her and enjoyed her immensely. Video of her doing one of the hunter rounds is on her FOR SALE page. Results will be posted shortly.
Nugget is back in work with Patty and is coming along really well, we will be letting him down next month to have some time off as Patty is having surgery in Nov and will need 3 months recoup time, then we will get back to work again in the Spring. Ellie is in light work 3 times per week and she is also coming along VERY well. I might start taking lessons with her in the near future.
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August 21st Sadly, we are no longer able to have McKenzie ride Nugget. She is off back to school now so it's time to bid her a fond farewell. It was a wonderful summer having her here making herself be available on the odd occasion to ride Nugget. We are still progressing well with Ellie and have also started on Doremi very lightly with long-lining. She will go up to Anni's to be started under saddle in the summer 08.
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August 11th What a nice day!! Nugget did an awesome job at his dressage show and came home with 2 blue rosettes and a $25.00 gift certificate, I am THRILLED. He was as high as a kite when he came off the trailer and had to be lunged to settle him down with is very unu
sual for him. He stepped into the arena like he meant business. His first test he scored a 65.4% with individual scores in the 6's and 7's tho' he did get a 4 for striking off onto the wrong lead at one canter but it wasn't enough to drag his score down far enough and he was placed first in that class of 6. In the next class training level test 2 he once more scored 65% with a couple of 8's and a 4 for jigging in the walk. There were 5 competitors in that class and he came away with another blue ribbon!
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July 23rd Just got home from a soggy dressage show up at Donida Farms this past weekend. We took Nugget up on Sat evening and left him there overnight all braided up and looking like a trussed up chicken ready for eating with his sheet and sleezy on in an attempt to keep him as clean as possible for the Sunday classes. It paid off as he looked particularly good at 7.40am when he strutted into the arena. His mane and tail were all braided up and were as white as could be as were his three white socks for only a very short time as they quickly turned dirty in the sloppy wet sand arena. The judge gave some lovely encouraging comments saying what a fun pony he was to watch being ridden and he was very forward and obedient and has a lot of potential.
A lot of people had scratched from their classes due to the atrocious rain, it poured nearly the whole weekend making the shavings/bedding in the portable stabling all soggy and a couple of the outside arenas were getting too heavy and goopy to ride safely in. Later that morning when Patty rode Nugget in the Training level test 4 he went on to score a good 61%. We were pleased as this was his first REALLY big show and the wet weather did not help.
Nugget behaved EXTREMELY well the whole time he was there. It was a wonderful experience for him and everyone involved and now we are looking forward to doing it all over again before the summer is out hopefully.
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July 14th Nugget is back on track and we are getting him ready for the BIG EVENT on the 22nd July...watch this space....!!
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July 10th Nugget is doing much better, he had some blood drawn by the vet. He has a mild infection and he is on medication to help keep the temp down and electrolytes once a day. He is back to eating carrots and his hay and we hope to see him back in fine fettle by the end of the week. A HOT DAY!! (87.6F)
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JULY 7th We just got back from a dressage schooling show today. It was sunny and warm in the upper 70's and luckily there was a nice breeze blowing to help keep everyone cool. Patty (Trainer of both horses) was with us and rode Nugget around the warm-up arena and to pass by the monster mirrors and around the grounds to get him used to the sights and sounds and he was super well behaved as expected (of course).
We very nearly didn't make it to this show. Nugget had scared us the night before by showing total lack of interest in eating his dinner and hay which had me taking his temp and to my horror it read 104.6!! So I gave him some banamine and also an enema ( he looked a bit colicky) as I had seen him straining but nothing was coming out. The enema worked as out came a small somewhat hard dropping and the banamine seemed to kick him back into gear with his appetite and with lowering his temp and soon he was back to his hay but not his grain. I checked his temp again at 10.30pm and it was down to 102F and he had eaten most of his hay had had a drink and there was one small poop. That was a relief but it was not enough.
By 5am the next morning his temp was back to normal at 100.9F and he was eating with gusto but there were 3 droppings in his stall so we waited until 2pm to decide whether we ought to go ahead with the show or not. He was happy to be put outside for some turnout and ate his hay just fine and drank more water. He pooped a good one in the paddock so we decided he was good to go and here is how it all went.
Nugget thrilled us all with his performance, you would never have guessed he was unwell the night before and his results were just brilliant with a 68% and a 70% for training level tests 1 and 2. The judge gave his some wonderful comments and we got marks like 7's and 8's for nearly everything. The mirrors never bothered him at all this time so my efforts of putting one up in his stall seems to have paid off. The only thing that spoiled the day was when Nugget came home at around 6pm he once again refused to eat his dinner. I took his temp right away and found he had a low grade fever of 102F, once again I was baffled by this and I am convinced that something is up, maybe he is stressed, or had a touch too much sun?? I took his temp once again at 10.30pm and again at 5.30am and it was still at 102F but he was eating his hay and was eager to be outside eating the grass, I gave him 1 gram of banamine anyway. Thankfully, he had drunk about half a bucket of water, but I will be keeping a very close eye on this guy for a while and he will be getting next week off.
All of Nuggets foals are now on the ground and if you want to see them please visit the FOALS page, we are delighted with what he has produced.
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JUNE Nugget went to a schooling dressage show and the weather was horrible; it was raining hard and there was a strong driving gusty wind and to top it all the indoor warm-up arena had huge mirrors all down one side and McKenzie had her hands full when Nugget saw himself in them and decided it was another pony, a mare (he thinks), that had to have his attention and it was hard to drag him away. He settled right back down again once he left the arena. The outside arena was where he did his Intro test A and B and he received some pretty good scores in the low 60's, we were so pleased and so we went home. I promptly found an old mirror and tied it to his door in his stall and it will stay there until he gets used to seeing himself. Other than that he was really well behaved, for such a youngster; with it being his first ever ridden dressage show I was VERY pleased with him overall. What a pony!!!
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APRIL 9th We had a wonderful surprise happen here this morning. Our beautiful Welsh section B mare Evans Chorus Girl presented us with a filly with three tall white stockings, belly spot and a wide white blaze, we think she is either bay or buckskin, she is very creamy for a bay so we are not sure yet. Wow, we are so pleased and surprised!! She is, after all, nearly 2 weeks early. We had checked her yesterday evening having just got the camera, lights and her stall bedded deeply that Sunday (Easter Day) with fresh deep shavings too when lo and behold, at 6.30am when I turn on the camera to check on her there she was with this lump of moving mass on the ground by her front feet. I have never gotten so quickly dressed as I did that morning. Thank heavens it was an uneventful birth, thank you God for taking care of them so well.
Nugget is now taking weekly lessons with a dressage trainer here in Olympia, the trainer Patty has a 15 yr old student who is a wonderful size for Nugget; McKenzie is competing 2nd level with her own horse and is delighted to be working with us just for the summer to help Nugget get some extra miles.
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MARCH is here and its been raining a LOT today. 5 weeks to go before Chloe is due, we just can't wait. We have been busy with answering calls from Mare owners that have been inquiring about Nugget with sending off contracts etc...we hope to be able to accomadate a few mares but since Nugget will be in training this year we might not have much time to do too many this year. We already have him under saddle with our pony rider Tara who drives down to our farm 2-3 times a week to ride our ponies for us. He is coming along so well and Tara says he is awesome to sit on, a real power house with loads of "engine" and when he trots out, oh WOW!! Photos will be taken and posted on to his page once this blasted rain goes away and when my arena is not like a swimming pool.
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JANUARY has arrived and there is ice and arctic cold winds blowing through here and we are all waiting anxiously for Spring! Thank goodness for radiant floor heating in our house making it very nice/easier to get out of bed to a warm floor.
Got a nice surprise in the mail from the WPCSA the other day. Tyee Picture Play has once again been awarded 3rd place overall for the NW region. Two years in a row now, not bad huh? We have started to set into motion some ad campaigns to see about getting her sold, she will no doubt be a valuable broodmare to some lucky breeder also as well a first class hunter show pony. Sadly, we just cannot justify the time and expense of doing this ourselves.
We have one foal due late April that will be our first by our exceptional stallion Smoke Tree Gold Fever out of our wonderful broodmare Chloe. She is looking huge right now and she still has 3 more months to go. It looks like we may have already sold that foal once its here if it's a bay or buckskin colt; a lady in NV has contracted with us to have first right of refusal, certainly a first for me and I am excited. Of course I would love to keep it no matter what sex or colour it turns out to be, but I have to keep in mind that this is a BUSINESS.
2006 Show news
ASPR inspection Devonwood October 21st 2006: Rachel was presented to the ASPR on this day and received an overall score of 7.5 giving her first premium and a blue ribbon to bring home. What a lovely place Devonwood is; it is obvious that a great deal of time, planning and money had been spent on this ultra fancy place and I was wandering around the facility just drooling. Marla Eden was a gracious hostess and had everything running smoothly. I visited with some of the exhibitors and just drooled (again) at watching North Forks Black Earl being put through his paces for his final stallion approval. He has such a pretty head on him too. More info can be seen on Rachel's (mares) page.
NWSHBA 9-11th Sept 2006: We were planning on taking Nugget (Smoke Tree Gold Fever) on the Saturday and Rachel on the Sunday, classes were chosen and paid for. Nugget was shown for us by Annie Beamer on Saturday and scored well with some lovely remarks made by the judge, more info can be seen if you visit the stallion page, but sadly, we had to cancel Rachel to go to her classes on Sunday as we had a family crisis.
NWWC August 19th 2006: I entered Rachel (Tyee Picture Play) in the Half Welsh class at this well run friendly yearly Welsh show. In a strong class of 8, Rachel was pulled in First and Second place which meant she qualified for the Championship class. In that class she was Reserve Grand Champion by Geraint Davies, and Grand Champion by Colleen McCorley. I knew I liked that filly for some reason. What a nice feeling to go home with, totally on cloud nine, to do so well with so little preparation was really thrilling. Thank you to Annie Beamer who handled Rachel in these classes.
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2006 farm news.
Dec-Jan 06 - Xmas has been and gone, it was cold and sunny on Xmas Day, Santa bought us lovely gifts this year. We are in the middle of some winter storms coming through the area making it way more fun here on the farm with power outages and frozen pipes. Thank heavens we have a generator and plenty of water/food and candles etc stocked here in the house, it was tough having no internet for 5 days...talk about being in withdrawal.
See you all in the New Year.
November 2006 ......We bought a TB mare this month, what a nice girl she is, visit our Mares pages for info. the rains are already here and everything is mud city, we see spring as being a long way away right now, hoping winter passes quickly.
Its October now and we just got back yesterday from our final show/presentation down at Sherwood OR and it couldn't have been a nicer day if it tried. The nights are cool, the ponies are getting (if not already are) very hairy and I guess soon we will have to start batting down the hatches in anticipation of the rains that will inevitably come.
It's Sept now and it's been a long hot summer, the grass in no longer green but dry brown stubble, the hay is in the barn and everything is so desert like in appearance. We, as a family went up to Victoria, BC for a short much needed break and found the place to be delightfully green, a tad cooler and very pleasant (especially Butchart Gardens) and not too far away either. Even the ferry ride was nice and normally I hate going on boats. Certainly well worth another visit.