Today we are again in Paso Robles, looking at property. One of the houses sounds really good (as they all do…) but is in the wrong area. We’d have to give up our dream of living in our special area of Creston…
The other one is right next door – so obviously in the wrong area, too – has a nicer house but also a huge natural crevice running through it which is bad for horses running in the dark.
We also might look at one near the RR tracks, but currently, that one sounds like too much of a compromise.
HERE WE GO!
These are my three dogs last night, all huddled on one pillow...
Hubby sent this to me to put into the blog.
Petey Pants!
I love the look on the rodent's face... I would like to have one of those.
I don't usually repost photos with captions, but this one is unique!
What a sight, eh? Go here to see more: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/307909.html
Count the toes...
Cupcake the Herdmaster - the only one standing - watches over the sleeping herd. THIS is why everyone should adopt a mini or a Shetland.
HA!
Beautiful photography
Of course, I love the donks.
Nice.
This photo mesmerized me.
HAPPY SATURDAY!
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I love the eye liner on the white donkey.
The BEST fair in Maine is the Blue Hill Fair, if you ever get back here around Labor Day weekend! There is the horse pulling (probably some of the same competitors as in Fryeburg), which of course I watch. There is old-timey harness racing (no betting — everyone is there for the love of it, and all entrants get a coupon for a lobster-and-clambake! There are 5-6 races per afternoon, each with 3-5 trotters and/or pacers, on Saturday and Monday (never on Sunday, though!).
There’s a Midway, some reasonably name-brand (country-tending) entertainment at night, wonderful show sheep, goats, cows, etc., lots of tractor displays, 4-H, prize vegetables, pies, flowers, quilts, etc. A petting zoo, a tent of llamas, and one of alpacas. Demonstrations galore.
A couple more special things are the giant Ferris wheel, which Fern and Henry Fussy rode in Charlotte’s Web — E. B. White, the author, lived just a few miles away in Maine, and the Fair in his book was the Blue Hill Fair! From the top of the Ferris Wheel, you can see out across Blue Hill Bay in one direction, and the lovely little Blue Hill itself in the opposite direction (a monadnock, I think? easy and rewarding hike).
And, the New England Sheepdog Trials — amazing Border collies and their humans maneuver wild-ish sheep around a course. Fascinating. The audience for this seems very knowledgeable, and they are very quiet.
And, the wild blueberry shortcake served by the ladies of some organization under the grandstand — I think they finally went up to $3 a portion, but it still serves two. Mmm, homemade shortcake and real whipped cream on top. You can have strawberry instead, or even mix them.
Gee, we are only half a year away from the next one — and yes, it is one of the highlights of my year. Chocolate goat fudge, piglet racing…I keep thinking of more things. It is I think $10 per adult per day and that includes parking. What a deal!
I am up there anyway — about 25 miles away — but it’s worth the trip IMO. Blue Hill itself is a lovely town, and of course the Maine coast is beautiful. Here is the website: http://www.bluehillfair.com/ — do check it out!
BTW I don’t think Shires would do well in pulling. They don’t have the strength-to-size ratio that Belgians do. Same with Clydesdales, I believe. Even Percherons are relatively rare in pulling. I am not complaining, though. I love to walk through the Draft barn and feel Liliputian around the big fellows, resting in their huge double stalls, maybe chatting with their neighbors (it’s an old, very tall wooden structure, with pairs of stalls separated by a hanging board, and partitions between each pair. And a very wide aisle in the middle of the two rows, because you need a lot of room if you have two one-ton animals in hand!
I watched Cupcakes video on YouTube and it was adorable!
Quite an assortment of photos, thanks for posting them. The shire fillys are beautiful. Females are allowed to pull, whether you mean equine or human. You might want to rethink the pulling contest thing though, it is perhaps THE most abusive equine sport I am aware of. The “training” methods used on pulling horses are horrific in the extreme. Since pulling was nearly banned in the 80’s for abuse, the organizers are very careful to make it look clean and neat in public. The only sport I can think of that is at all like it is dog fighting.
Today’s phoblogg was really heartwarming and cool! Thanks for putting it together I posted it to my fb page hoping it will give others a warm fuzzy feeling too!
They were all great, my favorite is the elegantly stabled horses….if I was rich I would have a stable just like it…