The Ladies and the Ladies Man

 Today was the last day of Linda and Hannelore's visit to NH. 

We loved spending time with them again after the long Covid break, and they will be missed by everyone (especially the dog).

 

 

 

Scenes from the First Snow

 

Brotherly Love

Kassidy loves to snuggle with her Grandpa and Uncle Richard. 

Kassidy and Chavelle

 Kassidy's favorite horse is Dillon, but she has made other friends at Dusty Dog.

We were going to lease this horse, but a past tick bite that went bad has left him with some medical issues. 

He has bad days and good days, but the kids are still happy to train with him on the good ones.

 

The Three Equestrians

Keira, with new friends Claire and Molly (volunteering at a school fundraiser).

 

The Creek Chopper

 The creek that runs along the back of our property was overgrown with thorns and thickets when we moved in, so much so that you could hear it but not really see it. So I broke out the clippers and have been hacking through the overgrowth for the past few weeks. I pulled out what is hopefully the final thorn bush today, and just have to clear out a few more weeds and piles of discarded wood to finish it all up. 

Well not quite, I still have to rent a Uhaul and make a few trips to the dump- I've got about two dumpsters worth of weeds and thorns to discard :P

Members Finally

 Me and the boys became members of the Hooper Golf Club, one of the top ranked nine hole golf courses in the world. We are some of the lowest ranked golfers in the world, so hopefully a little bit of Hooper will rub off on us.

Autumn in NH

When the thermometer hits 70..

 

Happy Birthday, Iria!

 Iria grew another year more beautiful and wonderful today, and we celebrated with a road trip up to the White Mountains and explored a bunch of waterfalls and gorges. Her birthday lands at pretty much peak leaf color season, and how fitting is that?

Time to take the Colbert Questionert!

1. Best sandwich? - peanut butter and jelly
   

2. What's one thing you own that you really should throw out? - old dirndl dress from Germany
   

3. What is the scariest animal? - mouse
   

4. Apples or oranges? - apples
   

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph? - Katharine Hepburn
   

6. What do you think happens when we die? - a presence of our spirit remains on earth
   

7. Favorite action movie? - Run Lola Run
   

8. Favorite smell? - a field of flowers
   

9. Least favorite smell?  - fish
   

10. Exercise: worth it? - yes
    

11. Flat or sparkling? - sparkling
    

12. Most used app on your phone? - camera
    

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? - 'Jupiter' from Holst's "The Planets"
    

14. What number am I thinking of? - 12
    

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words? - by my dear husband's side
    

Happy Birthday, Keira!

  Keira is an official teenager today. I guess she will now become independent, temperamental, emotional, and driven.

Oh wait, she was already all of those things!

 

 

 

Time to take the "Colbert Questionert"!

1. Best sandwich? - sour dough bread and Nutella
   

2. What's one thing you own that you really should throw out? - my cupcake socks
   

3. What is the scariest animal? - snakes
   

4. Apples or oranges? - apples
   

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph? - Ms. Beadle from 'Little House on the Prairie'
   

6. What do you think happens when we die? - you float up into the sky
   

7. Favorite action movie? - Enola Holmes
   

8. Favorite smell? - a horse
   

9. Least favorite smell?  - old garbage
   

10. Exercise: worth it? - yes
    

11. Flat or sparkling? - flat
    

12. Most used app on your phone? - Netflix
    

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? - "Wait for me (reprise)" from Hades Town
    

14. What number am I thinking of? - 2
    

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words? - farm horse author professional rider
    

Happy Birthday, Lennon!

 Lennon turned 14 today, completing another trip around the sun. 

His curiosity, intelligence, and sense of humor makes it a continuous pleasure to be along for the ride.

Time to take the "Colbert Questionert"!

1. Best sandwich? - Roast beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper on white
   

2. What's one thing you own that you really should throw out? - Stockpile of old birthday cards
   

3. What is the scariest animal? - Bugs
   

4. Apples or oranges? - Apples
   

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph? - Keene and Barrios on FC Dallas
   

6. What do you think happens when we die? - Cease to exist
   

7. Favorite action movie? - Logan
   

8. Favorite smell? - Oranges
   

9. Least favorite smell?  - Wet dog
   

10. Exercise: worth it? - Yes
    

11. Flat or sparkling? - Sparkling
    

12. Most used app on your phone? - Tik Tok
    

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? - "Goodbye" by Bo Burnham
    

14. What number am I thinking of? - 7
    

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words? - Grow up please please please
    

College Call

 

Pet Portrait

 

Monadnock State Park - White Dot Trail

 

Next time we attempt this climb, we will get a little closer to the summit. We were 800ft short of getting to the summit, but not a bad achievement for us flatlanders.

Looking Down

As we were making our way up the trail, I looked dowon a lot, because I just can't stop myself from looking at the loving things around me, in this case below me. This little reddish brown mushroom is in the russulaceae family which contains about 1,900 species of which are edible and some are toxic. If youare not sure, best don't even try it. What stood out to me about this one was that it grew hroizontally out of the soil and roots aloong the way.

This mushroom is a coral mushroom that grows on decaying wood It is quite a wondreous world right at our feet if we choose to look.

Here is a nice exmaple of a Jack-in-the-pulpit - quite poisenous to humans but very beautiful to look at.

This is most likely an oyster mushroom which is a mushroom in the tree mushroom family.

This moss and mushroom growing on a rock is like a miniture world of its own.

The botanical name for this fungus is tremellaceae. This one is already in its decaying stage of the truited body. The fruited body is a gelatinous substance. tremellaceae does not always produce a visible fruit body.

This is the fruit on a hobblebush

 Here is an example of the amanita family. Again a family that contains many species, some edible and some toxic. 

Lennon and Miles

We have become fast friends with the Harrisons, our neighbors across the street. Their son Miles is the same age as Lennon, and they have really hit it off. Lennon doesn't seek out a lot of friends, so this is a rare thing.

Here they are climbing up Mt. Monadnock today. 

We got around 800 feet to the summit, but we will be sure to plant our flag next to the dozens of other tourists next time we attempt it.