Recapping the year

This year brought some highs and some lows.  I thought I'd run through the highlights and the not so great moments that 2011 brought us.

The most tragic event of the year was right at the beginning.  January 3rd Pie's cousin Sofia was hit by a water delivery truck and killed.  Also, this summer my Grampie passed away.
January/February saw Pie sick, again.  Thankfully he didn't get to the point where he had to be hospitalized but it was scary.  I still get worried anytime he coughs or is phlegmy.  We realized that last fall he didn't get his flu shot so we made sure he got it this year, so far he seems fine.  Lets hope he gets through the winter without getting sick  

**knock wood**

A good, young friend of mine lost her talented barrel horse in a freak accident at home.  Mattie was a sweet horse and L still misses her.
The colts got their official papers from AQHA and I was pleased to see that both boys were granted my first pic of names.
Saskatchewan's horse community had a pretty bad scare of Rhino EHV-1, in fact it was a scare that hit some of the states and other provinces as well.  As a result some events I had planned to attend were cancelled and others I opted out of.
I got hit by some trolls this year due to things ranging from a couple of my Friday Funny jokes to the fact that I DARE to get my fat ass up on a horse and ride.  When I finally blogged about it I was amazed at the outpouring of support from my blogger peeps

(I'll say it again, you guys rule!)

May 31st we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of our move to the acreage... still loving it, no regrets :)
I had my scariest horse accident yet.  July 1st Voodoo went down as we were leaving 3rd barrel.  I managed to avoid having him land right on me, he only landed on my lower leg, but it was still frightening.  And up to that point it was such a good run!

I reached a blog milestone this year, 500 posts!

Barrel racing, I didn't make it to a lot of jackpots.  Between EHV and my schedule I barely made enough to qualify for Provincial finals.  I ended up missing the short go by 15 slots, the closest I had ever come!  And I'm pretty sure if I'd had my head on straight I would have made the short go, I totally blew my second run and I know Voodoo & I could do better than we did on our first run.  Applejack had stage fright and we were no where near the short go.  However he improved immensely on his second run so I was happy with him.
District finals, Applejack was sore so I scratched him.  Voodoo ran nice but not in the money.  He was extremely consistent though, hopefully with some practice we'll add a bit more speed and stay consistent.
I also (finally) stepped down from the district board.  After 5 years it was more than time.
The colts became geldings this year (yay!)  Animal losses, more serious than pairs of nutters, were Mom's dogs Mack & Holly RIP big guy and little girl.  Our dog Echo (who we had got this spring) went missing, we still haven't found him and I really think that someone took him.  But the saddest of all, for me, was putting down my beloved Cessa.
An interesting event, that probably won't happen around me again, was the "homeless lady with a horse".  Jeanne was making her way across Canada, a homeless wanderer who preferred to not live in mainstream society.  There are plenty of people like that but she 'dared' to do it with a horse  

*gasp* <-- totally sarcastic

I happened to be one of a small group of people that supported Jeanne's dream and pitched in with aid and moral support.
Another item was scratched off my horse bucket list, I went for a ride at night.  Voodoo & I shared that moment under a beautiful full moon.
I took Rootbeer to a pony playday at my friend Jo's.  Dave was there to help us with driving and through some trial & error we figured out that my little guy was broke to drive!

(now to get a cart and proper fitting harness)

After keeping our eyes open for a "company's here" horse we found Smudge (or rather my horse dealin' friend Mr Tim found him and called us)  Thanks to Smudge my mom is riding and having fun.
This fall I went to another Ed Wright clinic, and I'm even happier that next year Ed will be here in the summer!  It will be nice to get some Education and be able to put it to use during the season.
For the first time in 10 years Pie got a vacation!!  We took advantage of it and went out East... New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia.  It was wonderful.
December saw some new additions to the ranch, we got moos cows.  Four heifers and a steer, in partnership with my Mom & Stepdad.  And Pie got a puppy, Walter, for Christmas!

and here is my year according to Facebook:

Friday Funny ~ Dentist

At the busy dental office where I work, one patient was always late.  Once when I called to confirm an appointment, he said "I'll be about 15 minutes late.  That won't be a problem, will it?"

"No," I told him.  "We just won't have time to give you an anesthetic."

He arrived early.

Walter

Our newest little family member is fitting right in.  There was surprisingly little drama introducing him to the rest of the dogs.  He & Tucker started playing and napping together pretty much right away.  Misty feels the need to monitor the boys play time and play mother to them, Comet would really rather they both just leave him alone (which is pretty much his general attitude to almost anyone/thing these days... he's a grumpy old man)

Potty training is going so-so.  He's having some accidents but not a lot.  What's actually most difficult for me is to not cuddle him too much...  I really want to give Pete the chance to develop a bond with Walter.  They cuddle whenever possible and that bond is growing.
Speaking of Tucker, we've made sure that whenever Walter has gone somewhere we also take Tuck.  Whether that be to the vet or into the city to get used to car rides and some socialization.

Walter seems to have a bit of a dominant personality, he gets very upset if they're wrestling and he hasn't had his chance to "win", then he gets a bit aggressive.  Tucker is so happy go lucky he'll play with almost anyone, even if they're kicking his butt.  Which explains the bite marks on the side of his face (Walter, bad puppy!)  Other than that they play together really well.  Tucker is a great "big brother", he takes turns letting Walter win at tug of war and wrestling (although like I said if Walter feels he should be winning and doesn't get to he pitches a fit)  Its quite cute to see Walter on the dog bed holding a toy with Tucker holding the other end dragging Walter AND the bed around the living room lol  And Tucker is teaching Walter all about his crazy tearing around the house, Walter just needs to get coordinated enough to keep up.

Probably one of the funniest things that's happened is Tucker realizing that Walter can't get up on the furniture yet.  So when he sees Walter playing with something he doesn't feel like sharing (usually that's Pig) he takes the toy and puts it up somewhere, usually the ottoman.  Then he carefully positions and repositions it until its as close to the edge as possible and just out of Walter's very ungraceful leaping efforts to get it... and he sits back and watches Walter try to get it (I swear you can tell Tucker's pleased with himself! lol)

Wordless Wednesday ~ Farm Girl

A Message from George & Rootbeer

From everyone here at Home on the Range!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Pete's Christmas present :)

Sunday Stills ~ Happy Anniversary (Pets)

This weeks Sunday Stills challenge: Three years ago this week will be the third anniversary of Sunday Stills. The very first challenge was Pets……so in honour of Ed and Sunday Stills lets do it again.

Okay so they're not really pets, but my camera died before I could get decent pics of the "real pets" and the cows were the only furry things around that I managed to get some decent pics of.

The World

Belongs to Lindsay Sears & Martha!!

Sears was #2 going into the NFR.  At the end of 10 rounds she was #1 in the average and took home the championship buckle.  Way to go Martha!!  10 clean fast runs in a tough pen.

** picture borrowed from Lindsay's site lindz.ca **

Something's missing

I took this pic of the hayfield 

Friday afternoon. 

 

I noticed the sky was all grey and moody 

but there was light shining out on the field. 

Its really beautiful when it does that in the summer

just before or after a storm, over a canola field :)

Anyway... I like this pic but it also makes me a bit sad 

because there's something missing.... any guesses?

Snow!

There's just a few patches of snow here and there.  

Its looking like its going to be a brown Christmas.  

And in Saskatchewan that just ain't right.

Catching up with the colts

It was farrier day the other day and when I brought Tavi in the farrier said "Holy s---!  He's getting big."

*small aside:  I was very proud of Tavi when I caught him.  I'd grabbed the wrong halter and it was way too small, so I looped the lead rope around his neck and he led in like an old pro :)  Pretty good, I haven't done a lot with them... they've been mostly turned out "being horses" for now*

I'd noticed he was getting quite big too, especially when I saw him standing next to Voodoo:

Now Voodoo isn't a "big" horse, he's about 15hh.  But keep in mind that Tavi is only a long yearling (born late June 2010)
Here's a 3/4 view, without that black ham:

I really need to bribe my "assistant" to come out so we can halter both colts, square them up and get some 'real' pics.

Then there's Odin, he's maturing but he won't be as big as his brother (that's not a bad thing).  I like how he's coming together, he had some "issues" with his hind legs that good farrier work and growth has improved.

Its interesting to watch the differences in size, build and (even more so) in personality as these two grow up.  They have different sires and their dams are full sisters.  They were born with in a week or so of each other and at the same farm, were brought here at the same time so they've pretty much had the same "life experience".  But man oh man they are total opposites!!

Friday Funny ~ Santa Knows

As we were putting out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve,

I accidentally dropped one.  

"No problem," I said, picking it up and dusting it off before placing it back on the plate.

"You can't do that," argued my four year old.

"Don't worry.  Santa will never know."

He shot me a look.  "So he knows if I've been bad or good, 

but he doesn't know the cookie fell on the floor?"

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sunset (from roundpen to front yard)

All the moos that's fit to print

aka "We've got news moos"

Okay enough punny stuff... meet the herd:

My stepdad B & I have gone partners on some cattle!
Last week I went with my friend Jo to look at some Dexters.  Today B, Mom, Jo and I went to pick them up (Pie was at work).  We got 4 heifers and a steer.

(yes all 5 are in that pic, the fifth one is hiding behind the others)

The plan is to butcher the steer, probably next fall, and to breed the heifers.  Unless of course by that time we're thinking "oh crap this was a bad idea" ;)
We decided on Dexters because they're small, therefore easier on your equipment (waterers, fences, etc), they're hardy enough for our winter cold & summer heat (don't laugh!), they are good beef & milkers, good mothers and calve easily.

Yes, of course I've named mine.  The steer (B & I are sharing him) is Chuck and 1 of my heifers is Tasty (because one day she will be) ;)  My other heifer will probably be Nelly (because of a longstanding joke with Pie)  The only thing is that, for now, they're pretty hard to tell apart.  We know who the steer is, because he's the only boy lol.  And I can tell which one is Tasty, her original ear tag ripped out so she has a torn ear and she's the only one tagged in the right ear.  That's Tasty in the front in the above pic.

Friday Funny ~ Circle Flies

A farmer got pulled over by an RCMP officer for speeding, and the trooper started to lecture the farmer about his speed and in general began to throw his weight around to try to make the farmer uncomfortable.

Finally, the officer got around to writing out the ticket.  As he was doing that, he kept swatting at some flies that were buzzing around his head.  The farmer said, "Having some problems with circle flies there are ya?"

The officer stopped writing the ticket and said, "Well, yeah, if that's what they are called... I never heard of circle flies."

So the farmer said, "Well, circle flies are common on farms.  See, they're called circle flies because they're almost always found circling around the back end of a horse."

The officer said, "Oh," and went back to writing the ticket.  Then after a minute he stopped and said, "Hey, wait a minute... are you trying to call me a horse's rear end?"

The farmer said, "oh no, officer.  I have too much respect for law enforcement to even think about calling you such a name."

The officer said, "Well, that's a good thing." and went back to writing the ticket.

After a long pause, the farmer said, "Hard to fool them flies, though."

Wordless Wednesday ~ No Smoking!

Something I haven't told you...

This guy

... is missing.  

Echo went missing shortly after we got back from our trip East.  We've had no luck looking for him, no responses to our ads or posters (with a reward offered).  Nothing.
I really think that either somebody shot him or somebody took him.  :(

Lucas & Abby, and Tucker

We wrapped up our time off by going to Edmonton to visit my sister and her family.  As I mentioned previously Tucker ended up going with us.  My nephew Lucas was thrilled.

My little niece Abby was enthralled with Tucker too.  And I have to say I'm pretty impressed with my little guy.  He's rarely around children but whenever he is he's a perfect gentleman, even with Abby pulling on his tongue and poking about his face.

We had a nice visit, did some shopping... I even get to say that I'm DONE Christmas shopping, and its not even December yet!  This is huge because I am a notorious procrastinator lol

(to be honest I have to get some stocking stuffers for Pie and there's a couple people I may buy something little for, but for all intents & purpose I'm done)

Little kids and the stuff they say & do cracks me up.  This for instance:

Lucas put his two stuffed dogs beside Tucker and said "Look, its a family"  He did make sure to tell us that they couldn't go home with Tucker, but he did try to get us to let Tucker stay with him lol (or Tucko as Lucas says)
Lucas kinda wished "Uncle P's donkey" could have come to visit too.  And he missed Comet, but we told him that Comet & Misty had to stay home to guard the house and horses. 
Something that I think is a pretty good idea for those of you that have kids and far-flung family... use FB to keep your kids in touch.  My sis shows her kids pics on FB so they stay familiar with who their family is, it really seems to work for them.
I happened to be on FB one day while I was there and Lucas crawled up onto my lap to look at the horses.  I showed him the new guy Smudge.  The pic happened to be one of my mom riding so I told him it was grandma riding Smudge.  He got this funny look on his face and said "Is this a new kinda grandma?"

Yep, it was a good way to end our vacation and head back to the real world...

Friday Funny ~ Pocketbook

As the bus pulled away, I realized I had left my purse under the seat.  Later I called the company and was relieved that the driver had found my bag.  When I went to pick it up, several off-duty bus drivers surrounded me.

One man handed me my pocketbook, two typewritten pages and a box containing the contents of my purse.  "We're required to inventory lost wallets and purses," he explained.  "I think you'll find everything there."

As I started to put my belongings back into the pocketbook, the man continued, "I hope you don't mind if we watch.  Even though we all tried, none of us could fit everything into your purse.  And we'd like to see just how you do it."

Wordless Wednesday ~ Missing her

Cessa, last winter

Going Home

Today I got a message for a nationwide (actually international as its for Canada AND the USA) plea for transportation for rescued horses.  Rather than explaining it myself I'll repost it:

A VERY IMPORTANT REQUEST: If you own a horse trailer and a rig, and would be willing to assist with the transporting of a newly rescued equine even for just a short distance, in order to get them into permanent homes, please come to our page and add your information to the appropriate Doc list (divided by USA and Canada, Pro Haulers and Non-Pro Haulers). We intend to turn that information into a huge database of people all over North America who will do their part to help get as many of our at-risk equines into safe homes as possible. Honestly- if we do a great job here, there may be NO horses left to slaughter!

What can you do? 5 miles? 50 miles? 500 miles? Whatever you can offer will be a wonderful service that you can provide. You may be asked to transport for a discounted rate, just for gas money, or for free. the financial arrangement is ALWAYS determined by YOU on a case-by-case basis. You may be asked if you're available to haul a horse from a rescue to a home... or, you may be asked to just haul the horse from one point to another in a series of 'freedom train' style transporters working together to move a horse across the country. You decide what you can do if you're called.

SO many at-risk horses in North America are not adopted ONLY because the willing adopter is unable to cover the very high costs of commercial shipping to get the horse to their home. This is how we can solve that problem! Thanks! 

Contact: Going Home

 

Leaving

Not on a jetplane though... Instead we're driving.  Pie & I are wrapping up our (much needed, well deserved) time off from work with a visit to Edmonton to see my sister & her family.  :)

When Pie & I flew east at the beginning of our vacation I missed this little brat so much that I had a very tough time sleeping the first few nights.

And while he was well behaved for "grandma & grandpa" (at least to my knowledge) it was pretty evident he missed me too.  (after all I'm his "momma" lol)
The 2 big dogs, Comet & Misty, are going to stay with my friend Jo.  While she has them she's going to trim Comet's nails, the big wuss.  The horses are all on round bales & free feeding (for now, that may change with some of the chunkier guys when we get back) so I just need my neighbour girls to pop over every day to make sure the waterers are working and everyone is accounted for and healthy.
Tucker... well he was going to get 'babysat' but that neighbour is going to be out of town for a meeting so instead... he's coming with us!  Yay!!  I won't have to miss this little guy and I'll have my snuggle buddy :)

While I love Edmonton c'mon, how could I leave this face for days on end again?!  There's some really good shopping there... including "horse stores" that Pie & Day have both agreed to indulge me with.  As well as other shops that we just don't have in our smaller city. 

I'm kinda sad though... our dog Echo went missing 2 weeks ago and there's been no sign of him.  I've pretty much given up hope of him coming home and now that we won't be here I'm wondering what if he DOES come back but we're not here?

Wordless Wednesday

Saturday Silly ~ Horse people

**because Friday was Remembrance Day I postponed Friday Funny to Saturday**

You know you are a horse person when:

-You cluck to your car when you go up a hill.
-Your horse's hair is in better condition than your own.
-You refer to your car as "my portable tack room".
-You are exited when your friend tells you that there is a huge sale at the bridle shop, then you are disappointed when you realize they mean the bridal shop.
-You have the vet's number but not your kid's pediatrician on your speed dial.
-Your spouse can track dirt into the house all they want, but God help them if they muddy up the tack room.
-Your house is a mess, but the barn is as neat as a pin.
-Your nice clothes are the ones without horse hair all over them.
-You have to go to your friend's wedding in riding clothes because you took too long at the barn.

-Only horse people would spend hundreds of dollars on a show for a 95 cent ribbon

How many of the above apply to you?

MY poppy is RED

In Canada it is tradition to wear a red poppy in the days preceding November 11th, Remembrance Day.
The poppy symbol reflects the over 6000 Canadian soldiers that died and were buried in a poppy field in Ypres in 1915 (over 100,000 Allied casualties in that 48 hour period)
The poppy pins are worn to show our respect and appreciation to those that have put their lives on the line, and for some to have made the ultimate sacrifice, to protect our rights & freedoms.
Some people are countering that war is wrong and the red poppies celebrate violence & war and therefore they are wearing white poppies to represent peace. I agree that war is not pretty, that sometimes it can seem pointless, however sometimes it is a necessary evil.  And because I appreciate my freedom I wear my RED poppy as a visible sign of my thanks.
Some of the white poppy people are the same people that bash our military and to them, and anyone else that wants to bash those men & women making so many sacrifices for us, so they can enjoy their freedom and sit on their asses, I'd like to say:

If you don't want to stand behind our military, 

then feel free to stand in front of them!

"In Flanders Fields" was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae during the Second Battle of Ypres.  It is a famous war memorial poem and has become almost the written/oral symbol of Remembrance Day. 
To me it is a hauntingly beautiful poem that came out of a terrible time.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scare heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.  Short days ago,

We lived, felt dawn, felt sunset glow,

Loved and were loved; and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Wordless Wednesday ~ I married a giant!

Friday Funny ~ A history lesson

Not necessarily my fav type of music but I love Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake's "History of Rap"


HoR 2


And of course they did a part 3!  However the best quality clip on Youtube had embedding disabled, so if you want to watch it here's the link:
History of Rap part 3

No Place Like Home

There really is no place like home :)

It was great to get away for a couple weeks, although I missed my ponies, puppies and kitties terribly.  Coming home and being able to sleep in our own bed was one of the best parts of coming home, and only partly because it meant Tucker was snuggling up with me again.
Seriously, 5 different beds while we were gone and only one really comfy bed.  Not great when I have a bad back.

Mom picked us up at the airport and brought us home (thx Mom!).  She & B had been house sitting for us (again, thx!) Knowing our home & critters were in good hands made going away a tad easier.
When we got home we let the big dogs out of the kennel and said hello to them before we let Tucker out from his crate in the house. 
Pete stood in the yard & I hid around the side of the house while Mom let Tuck out, he saw Pete and went running to him... until he caught sight of me as he passed the house, at which time he turned in mid-air and flew to his momma :D

Last night's sleep was the best I have had in weeks, snuggled up with my babydog and all the other critters nestled in for the night.

Sunday Stills ~ 25 & 50 Steps

This week's Sunday Stills challenge:  "Choose a starting spot, walk 25 steps in any direction and take 3 photos. The 25 steps can be outside your home, inside your home, in your neighborhood or away from your neighborhood.  Once your steps have been counted out, you must anchor one foot, you can pivot on that foot but your anchor foot may not move."

These 3 pics are for the '25 steps'.  They were taken at Cavendish Beach, PEI (Prince Edward Island)

These next 3 are for '50 steps' and were taken among the rocks/boulders at Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

On to PEI!

From Dad's place Pie & I went on to Miramichi to visit my cousin Drew & his family.  It was just an overnight stop but a great visit!  We adults went out for supper at a fantastic little, old pub called O'Donaghues.  Good food & atmosphere.  Then we went back to Drew's to visit before going on to stay overnight at the Rodd Miramichi.... omg I fell in LOVE with the bed.  Hands down THE most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept in.
The next day we got up and drove to Prince Edward Island (PEI). 

We had decided to take 'the bridge' from New Brunswick to PEI and then the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia.  Wow, what a bridge!  The Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge in the world that crosses ice covered water (although this time of year there's no ice)  If you click the link you can find out all kinds of interesting things about the bridge and building it.  For example it was quite a controversy over whether or not to build a fixed link from PEI to the mainland, it was passed with a vote just under 60%.

(oh and by the way to my American friends... Confederation is a pretty big thing out here,its not a North VS South thing from the US.  Confederation here refers to the birth of Canada) :)

So yes, crossing a big bridge, here's the approach

On the bridge for a few minutes, yes minutes.  It takes about 10 minutes to cross... going the speed limit of 80km/hr (about 50 miles/hr).  Yep, here's more bridge

When we got to PEI we decided to drive around the East side of the island.  Before dark we got to the 'eastest' part, East Point, and the lighthouse there

It was getting kinda dusky but we decided to keep driving and see what we could see before it was dark.  I have to admit I was surprised to see the wind turbines, for some reason I never considered that they would be here... it just didn't seem to be a coastal thing.  But in retrospect there is some awesome wind here!

I found PEI to be gorgeous.  Charlottetown is a nice city, and close to pretty much any point on the island.  The rest of it, at least what we saw, was rural.  Sheep, cows, horses... and gorgeous scenery.  I would consider moving here if I ever needed to relocate, except the Western horse community doesn't seem to be very strong.

Thursday Pie indulged me and I got to fulfill a girlhood dream... I went to Green Gables!
"Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery has always held a special place on my list of favourite books.

Montgomery actually used a local home as her basis for Green Gables, enough so that locals knew it instantly in the book.
I'm not sure if Anne of Green Gables was a popular book in the USA, if you aren't familiar with the story click the link. 
Here is Green Gables, the actual original home the book is based on.  If they were real this is where Matthew, Marilla & Anne would have lived.

And here is Matthew's barn, sadly it is a reconstruction.

Pie & I also went to BOOMburger, fantastic, really fantastic burgers (I'm a burger girl, give me a good burger joint over a fancy restaurant any day lol).  I love that they source a lot of their ingredients locally (local being PEI, it isn't a very big province)  Then we went to Cows, which is right next door, for some souveniery things and ice cream.  If you ever get a chance try it, its been voted the best ice cream in the world!
We also went to Cavendish and checked out the beach.  Not for the beach but for the view, which was gorgeous but so bitter & cold that day.
We stayed at the Rodd Charlottetown.  Its kinda the 'crown jewel' of Rodd hotels.  It started out as a CN railway hotel... quite the snazzy place back in the day, it opened in 1931.  The hotel itself is gorgeous but the bed was NOT comfortable at all and the staff seemed kinda snooty.  (I guess maybe a plain jane burger girl isn't fancy enough for a 5star hotel??)
Thursday we got up and were on our way to Nova Scotia, last stop before we head home!

Friday Funny ~ Winter in New York

We purchased an old home in Northern New York Sate from two elderly sisters.  Winter was fast approaching and I was concerned about the house's lack of insulation.

"If they could live here all those years, so can we!" my husband confidently declared.

One November night the temperature plunged to below zero, and we woke up to find interior walls covered with frost.

My husband called the sisters to ask how they had kept the house warm.  After a rather brief conversation, he hung up.

"For the past 30 years," he muttered, "they've gone to Florida for the winter."

Wordless Wednesday ~ Grand Lake

The trip continues... Hartland & area

Friday Pie & I drove down to Woodstock and returned the rental van Dad had arranged for us.  We've been staying with him & S since then.  Monday we'll be on the road to pick up another rental in Fredericton and heading on to the Miramichi to see my cousin Drew & his family.
There's not a lot in Dad's neck of the woods.  The biggest "claim to fame" is this:

In case you can't see that sign, this is the WORLD's longest covered bridge.
This is a full shot of it from Dad's side of the bridge:

What's that, it doesn't look that long?  How about a view of the whole thing:

Dad lives right at the top of the hill, and its a steep hill.

While visiting Dad Pie & I got to see Amanda, who also has a blog (hi Amanda *waves*), "big sis" Natalie, her kids Crystal & Tristan (S's family that is now part of mine) :)  Uncles & Aunts (Kevin, Bob & Ruth, Marty) and Great Aunt Florence, that's a lot of family for a girl that's grown up without really having extended family around lol
GA Florence is pretty inspiring.  She's 90 and lives on her own (in a regular house not a seniors unit) which is spotless.  She mows her 2 acre yard, goes snowmobiling and 4 wheeling and "out to camp" (a phrase they use a lot here). 

Today Dad called us out of the house to see the hang-gliders going by.  During good weather its apparently not uncommon to see them.  There were 7 total, I saw 5 and then thought to grab my camera, not a great shot... wish I had grabbed it sooner.

One thing we've been seeing a lot of in New Brunswick is signs of fall.  Besides the wonderful colours on the trees we also came across this field of pumpkins.

I love the architecture of the older houses here.  (no pics of those yet though)  And there are lots of wonderful old barns.  I really liked this one, partially built into the hill.

 I've seen a few horses but I only took pics of this guy, he seemed like he was waiting for someone to stop and notice him.

I guess not though because as soon as my camera clicked he turned and ran away lol

Things are going well at home, Mom & B are enjoying house sitting for us, today the went for a ride.  Mom even cowgirled up and made Smudge keep going when he wanted to go home (yay Momma!).