In which we go to the ride and things happen, details to follow soon

Home on the Range ridecamp 2012  photo by Darlene Anderson

 The beautiful, expansive acreage around our Washtucna ridecamp traditionally doesn't get much rain--about 10 inches annually.  


(For comparison: average rainfall around Haiku Farm is about 38 inches annually)


I believe that Washtucna received about half of the allotted annual rain in the few days surrounding the ride.

"It rained"   photo by Monica Bretherton

 Fiddle and I started the 50-miler, but after passing the vetcheck with all A's at 25 miles of deep sloggy trail, she "peed strawberry lemonade".   


Most endurance riders will understand what that means, and why I grabbed my ride card to take it back to the vets so I could pull us.  If you don't understand the significance of "strawberry lemonade", don't worry--my next blog post will talk all about it.  


Suffice to say that the ride was beautiful, that my big mare is just fine (and, in fact, never showed any other adverse symptoms), that I learned things.  Details forthcoming.


Since I have to get out the door to work right now, I'll just show you the cuteness:

Bailey and puppies: "Please, take them away--they have TEETH!"

Bailey is Ryan's dog.  She's a great little working mutt, and he always thought it would be awesome for her to have little working mutt puppies.  She delivered a litter of TEN pups 7 weeks ago.  Ryan has now scheduled a spay operation for Bailey.


Bailey would rather be working, anyhow.

Trail marking crew

 Ah, but the pups need homes!  


NO, we did not take a puppy.  But we helped place some of them.

Madeline's new puppy

 Madeline will be graduating from college at the end of May, and then heading off into the rural wilderness of America to put in two years with Teach for America.  TFA is an awesome program, putting new grads to work in places where a lot of people need teachers, and a lot of teachers don't want to live. 


I'm sure Mads will have many, many adventures...and she needs to have a dog with her.  So, we chose the puppy she will take.  The name of the pup is secret for now.   Shhhh.

Dory's new puppy

 Our dear friend Dory also needs a puppy.  She chose this little calico girl-pup from pictures.   When Dory couldn't make it to the ride, she asked Jim and me to bring the pup to her, which of course was a delightful task.

This puppy is definitely a Pirate

 So much cuteness!

Allowing sleeping dogs to remain recumbent

 The shelties were relieved when we stopped at Fish Creek and dropped off the puppy.  They do not enjoy the company of puppies!

Home at last!

Dory does.


Life is pretty danged good.  You heard it here first.