Last month? It was my first time at a barrel racing competition.
If you know me, you know I’m not the yeehaw rodeo girl type. I don’t do twangy Grand Old Opry music and I’ve never owned a pair of cowboy boots. But the sister of a friend…. who is 53 and recently went through a bad breakup…. did what any lonely single woman does at that age.
She got a horse.
To be precise, she rescued a 17 year old horse who was being neglected and half starved at a highly suspect stable.
It’s been a long slow road back to health, but their bond is strong.
And in just 2 years she’s learned not only how to ride, but how to barrel ride and compete…. so we had to show up in support.
Horses and horse trailers lined the field.
And this darling little fellow who lives at the neighboring farm strolled the grounds looking for handouts and treats.
Clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought he was sweet. This man followed him around with a GoPro and went in for a serious close up.
The event was late in starting…
But her horse was chill… and took a nap.
Our dinner reservations were for 7:15 and the normal competition schedule was switched to let the children’s division go first….. so we only got to see one round with our friend.
She’s still learning, and her horse is still underweight… but she’s getting there.
The bleachers crowd went wild!
Okay, not exactly.
There was one bleacher, and the crowd consisted of one family with a screaming child …. but the 4 legged beggar who found some spilled popcorn looked excited.
Still, it was fun….and we hope to go again when we can stay longer.
Although from the decibel level and type of music that plays constantly in the background?
Remember a while ago I posted a picture of the sunflower seeds the chipmunk from Hell had planted in my petunias… and how they were growing?
Well over the past few weeks they grew tall and budded, and then started disappearing. One by one… shredded, stripped of leaves, and gone.
I’ve seen a few grasshoppers, so I thought maybe that was the reason.
How pathetic is that?
One lone stalk remained.
Then I woke up this morning and saw….
A woodchuck…
On the table.
That’s something I hadn’t seen before.
First there was a little pole dancing….
Then he got down to business.
So now I know why there won’t be any blooming sunflowers this season.
He made short work of it and left me this…
As well as this…
Yes, I could have yelled and scared him off, but I admit … I laughed instead.
We’ve had woodchucks all year and they haven’t touched a single plant, shrub or flower. Which if you’ve ever had woodchucks, you know is highly unusual.
So I let the little devil have the sunflower.
The fact that he can even get his fat butt up on the table to begin with is comical and worth the price of a sunflower to view.
Hanging over everything like a gentle blanket of white…
In some places there was a sharp delineation.
As if it cut by a knife.
But as it started to lift…
I looked way out into the back yard by the woods and saw…
A piner!!
I did!
And in the 17 years we’ve lived here?
Not one single porcupine sighting… until now.
There’s elusive creatures, solitary by nature. Shy, quiet and slow… but apparently willing to high five in Philly.
(I totally need to visit Philly now, damn it.)
Sadly, while we see plenty of them dead on the side of the road…. we’ve never seen one at our house since the majority of our property is open lawn or field and they prefer the wooded areas.
So… a piner!!
I was thrilled… and attempted to creep across the back lawn to get a better picture. Naturally, I don’t creep well and he spotted me….. and shimmied down the tree before I could get close.
But I saw a piner on our property and have blurry photos to prove it.
