Nevel on a Cuckoo Clock/Black Forest Germany

I actually saw a whole field of Haflingers in the snow, but my tour bus was moving too fast to get a picture!

Nevel on a Cuckoo Clock/Black Forest Germany

I actually saw a whole field of Haflingers in the snow, but my tour bus was moving too fast to get a picture!

Carving-Black Forest Germany

Blown Glass Horses in the Black Forest/Germany

Eat My Dust

No time soon.
October was full of travel
November full of smoke
I've succumbed to "inside sickness" to avoid the smoke
Laden air.
It's sad and full of despair
For Paradise once fair.

On another note
Chevy recommends a 500 mile break in period before towing. I'm at 224 with the obvious help from the service crew who put 64 miles on it taking to Rancho Cordova and back for Llumar. Hhhhmmmm, is it really THAT far? And maybe they didn't realize my tracker also picked up their hard accelerations?
DON'T MESS WITH MY TRUCK!
It's bad enough my husband can't understand why I traded in my Jeep for a TRUCK
He has to squeeze through the back door
Cuz the TRUCK fills the garage.
HE can't understand why it has a name
; )
DRAGON-fly
🐉
😆

Sent from my iPad

September Sundays with my Golden Boy

I think he blends in well with his surroundings!

https://youtu.be/q9K6lKzeSb8

Sent from my iPad

Glacier National Park-pictures

 My big sister trekking back towards Logan Pass

Ripples

 Crown of the Continent

Glacier Lillies

 YOU OLD GOAT!!!

Babe of the Mountain Tops

 Grizzly Bear Wayyyy down there on the snow (glad he was lumbering far away!)

 Marty the Marmot

Got any food for me?

 BEAR GRASS

McDonald Lake Reflections

 Cliff Dwellers

GEORGE the Bighorn Sheep King

Hidden Lake.  We braved a precipice and rock clambered to get this view.

My sister kept saying....nooo, I'm not going ANY further...

Here she climbs up the glacier with her daughter Shana, granddaughter Ellie & grandson Levi

 Sister said again....NOOOO, I'm not doing it...and I said again...YES YOU ARE!
She didn't know why she had chest pain/trouble breathing.  I said...its ALTITUDE!
STOP, REST, CATCH YOUR BREATH...cuz we are DOING IT!

 So they trudged onward

 IT IWAS WORTH IT!

 I thing she was GLAD she did it-even if she did have my air in her eyes!  LOL

Montana 3 Legged Horse

The horses in Montana are beautiful.
Fat
Sleek
Shiny

They graze on gigantic pastures and
Condition themselves on steep hills
They seem to live a life of ease.

Sleeping under trees

But on the last night of my stay
Hoping the best for rest
(the nights are short-sun on the horizon still at 1045 pm and glaring bright again @ 5 a.m)
Alas I did not get ANY!

Around 1 AM  I heard...clop...clop..clip clip clop repetitively.  It was so slow and scary sounding really.  I got up and looked out onto the deck...spooked the cat thus spooking myself.
Back to bed
Clop, clip clip clop...over and over.  just slow, with pauses...long pauses.  Finally I drifted off to sleep only to be awakened by what was obviously very FAST MOVING horses galloping in the tall grassed pasture next door.

At that point the clop clip clip clop became obviously another horse, on the road, now whinnying, snorting and galloping in an off beat manner.  I could only figure it was the DREADED Montana 3 LEGGED HORSE...or well, maybe one with only 3 shoes!  ha ha!

The pastured horses and loose one obviously met up in the dark over the fence and much squealing and more galloping around was heard.
At 5 a.m.  in the dawning light I peered out again and saw the outline of the loose horse in the ditch grazing next to the pasture.  By 6:30 it was totally gone and must have been captured.

I lived to tell the story and to have fun another day!

Shakin’ it

Persee helps with Demolition

FINISHED!

My Niece of Froghollow Studio has finished the model of Persee.  She won the original model of this little Arabian at a model horse show and decided to turn it in to Perseeus.  Although it is of course show type (bulgy eyed) Arabian she did a great job of turning it in to Persee.  and sometimes he does look very Arabian when he wants to.

 She is going to take him to a show first and then will give him to me in July when I see her in Montana at my moms.  Once I get him I will line him up with my two other horse models that she has done for me...Nevel and my first horse Apache.  Apache model rode on my dash during my whole cross-country move to CA.

 Awesomely Gorgeous  Head Shot.

IT SUCKS TO GET OLD!

and the Knee is swollen up like a base ball!
All because last weekend I:
1.  rode a bike 10 miles on Sat
2.  rode Nevel 4 miles and hiked 4 miles
3.  hiked at Hidden Falls with the dogs on Tuesday 4 miles.

Thats it- Big brace on left knee.  Even though I tried to protect both knees with braces when doing all of the above.

YEP
SUCKS TO GET OLD....DONT DO IT.

Regardless...Hidden Falls is beautiful still tho green is waning in to brown.
Here we are at the EDGE OF EVENING and the Edge of Life.  : (

Staying Local

This last Sunday Nevel and I stayed local since I was on call for work.  

 We went down the lane, crossed the street and wandered down the trails.  Some lined with Lupine
Others lined with LUSH POISON OAK!  YUK!

 TRAIL OF OAK- I managed not to get any oak on myself this trip

 On our return Persee was anxious to get out of the pasture.  He was not too spooky as I brushed and saddled him but then had a flip attack when
the stirrup swung up and hit his flank.  So I repeated it on both sides 5 times while he looked at me wild eyed!  SILLY HORSE!

 He is still not impressed with his Green Tack.  Too bad...it is what we have and no money to buy blue!   I kinda like it, but it doesn't make me feel relaxed.  It just isn't me.  Maybe next year Blue.
IF I am riding him.
  Anyway...we took a hike down the lane.  He spooked a little at the drain by the road but I kept walking and pretended like I didn't see him spook.
We crossed the road and went to the creek.   Love my Ariats.  I walked right through the creek and didn't get wet.
     Persee walked right through too.  We turned around and he came through faster and splashed himself which caused him to jump slightly, but he was over it and we wandered back home...Uneventfully...Thank goodness!

Time is Passing Me By

After our Hidden Falls ride Persee and Nevel were turned out in to the big pasture since the new boarders did not work out living with Pistol

 I was expecting Persee to be wild and bucking when turned out.  Instead he was cautious and interested in the lush grass along the drainage creek.  Within moments the three horses were best buds.

 Obviously though, Pistol has reclaimed Nevel as his ward and positioned himself between Persee and Nevel.

 Persee is difficult to get a full body pic of.  He is always up close and personal.














Hopefully Pistol will teach Persee a few lessons and also hopefully being closer to the road will help Persee not be so flighty around trucks and trailers.

 "YUM, this grass is GOOD!"

The Three Amigos.  Happy Together!

Hidden Falls

They were so hidden that we never found them...

Actually I avoided them...and the people and enjoyed more remote trails in the park.
I planned ahead a few days before and got a park pass that is required on the weekends and holidays.

Then I took my horse trailer to get air in the tires.  They were down 30lbs.  Shows how much I use my trailer...NOT...
The darn air pump only let me fill them to just under 55 psi.  They need 65.  Oh well,  light load, drive slow, 55 will have to be for now.  I wasn't going to cancel myself!

IT was a spectacular day!  Nevel made life easy by walking right onto the trailer and delving into some fresh hay.

Swaths of Poppies

 Lupines and various other flowers enrobed the hillsides.

And plenty of trails to choose from.

Nevel stood nicely to have his Cavallos put on.  But did not stand nicely to be mounted.

He was quite a pill really and kept hollering for a young and brash bay Arabian that had parked next to us and was difficult to handle as his owner and another gray arab went up the trail.

Crop in hand and plenty of circling I managed to finally get on...

and had to rest for 5 min!  he literally wore me out with his yanking around and hollering.

This pic a bit blurry with Nevel Hollering for a now non-existent bay.

 Fluffy blue clouds, green grass, a 67 degree breeze and gazillions of flowers.  YES it was GLORIOUS.

Not too far down a trail we met the HORSE EATING BRIDGE with running water under it.

Nevel had caught sight of the Bay by this time and was aiming to catch up...until he saw the bridge...

Then it was ALL over for HIM!...he Jammed on the brakes, shivered and whirled.

It took all I could muster to get this tank turned around.   

He whirled, he backed, whirled, backed at least 15 feet up trail before I got him turned around again.

I got off and walked him across the bridge...we turned around and did it again...and again...

at the second bridge which is the above pictured, he was alert but managed to sniff the bridge with me on his back...then daintily crossed.

By the third bridge he was cautious but crossed without nudging.

The return trip...that first bridge he was frightened of...he tried to whirl again from the other side...but he made it and we both lived!

I planned on going 15 miles but the boots aren't broken in well enough and he started limping on gravel.  He ended up with pretty pink, but no blistered skin from the boot.  So we did 10 miles and called it a day.

 He was quite happy to see the trailer (middle one is mine)








However decided that munching lush grass

 and watching an endurance horse condition was more fun then going home.

 Rover in the Clover

 POPPIES !!!!!!

More Clover and yellow flowers.

When I finally tore him away from the grass he walked to the trailer, looked at me and said:
"My trailer?  yep! LETS GO HOME."  He hopped aboard and home we went.  What a good boy!