Dining Out

Having a Few Days Fun
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday, but by the time I got home from going out to dinner with friends for the second night in a row, I was too tired. I am going out again tomorrow with another friend, so I'm not sure what I will say then.

Today, however, the weather was utterly magnificent! The temperature was up around 60 and it promises to be even nicer tomorrow. My arena is dry with excellent footing and while there is still mud in the paddocks, I was actually able to finish stripping the stalls and bedding them anew. I had to wait for things to dry out a bit, because there was simply no point in working hard only to have the rain blow back in and get all the new bedding wet. These nor'easters whip the wind and rain in from the east, west, north, and south at times, so no side of the barn is actually dry.

I did take the time to ride. Guess who? The subject of my next installment of "Horses I Have Known," the famous Toby! When I went out to select a horse, he was the only one close to the barn. The two youngsters had galloped off into the pasture. At first Toby wanted no part of being caught, but then he changed his mind, so I slipped the rope over his neck and brought him in.

I was glad I did. He is shedding like crazy and with the curry, brush, and shedding blade I had a pile of horsehair on the floor in no time. There is still a lot left he has to lose, but at least I made a bit of a dent in the process.

We took the short "Tucker Trail" through the woods, stopping at the salad bar pile of dirt with some nice green grass growing on it. It always amazes me how quickly the green plants and grass start to grow as soon as the spring sunshine starts to warm the earth. Already the front of my house is colored with crocus, and I see signs of some other little spring flowers poking their heads out too.

Some of the trail was a bit slick under the leaves, but to my absolute surprise most of the mud puddles in the woods were dried up already. Mind you, this is after 4-5 inches of rain Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Once more it proves the incredible infiltration of this aquifer. If you dig below the topsoil in most places, you will reach first a layer of fairly pourous sandy clay and then, depending on where you are, after anywhere from 6 inches to perhaps 9 inches, you are more than likely to hit sand. Once the water gets down that far, it filters through and ends up in various underground storage areas. Some records say there are underground rivers, but I don't know if that's true. Still, when anyone digs deep enough around here, they are bound to hit water.

The sandpit across the way is a prime example. It was what was known as a "wet" mining operation because as soon as they reached the sand and gravel, they hit water. Thus, the mining produced a huge lake across the road. My land sits 20-30 feet higher than the lake's surface...perhaps more...so my property dries out quickly as the rainwater seeks the lower water table underground.

Toby and I had a nice quiet hack despite the fact that upon our leaving and return, the two other Boys were chasing each other madly around, leaping and bucking all over the place.

I decided not to work anyone else. Besides, they seemed to be getting plenty of exercise on their own.

Tomorrow, since it is supposed to be even warmer, I am planning on taking all the Boys' sheets off the let them go "naked" for the day. I shudder to think of what they will look like when I get home from school. There are still mud puddles in the "Lake Follywood" part of the arena.

Will they be too tempting?