Ahhh, sunshine!

Beautiful sunny day!

The calm after the storms -- 6/11/2009.

Driving to work this morning and saw a herd of mares and their babies silhouetted against the morning sky ...

It's been a nice day so far, but thunderstorms threaten throughout the next week. While the sun shone today "we" got the camper ready for our first outing -- hopefully next week. I tidied up around the house -- nice days are coming and we want to be ready to GO!

This is Chip. He's 13 and we've had him since he was 9. He's a big beautiful bay and the boss of our herd -- sometimes wants to be the boss of us, too! Usually doesn't succeed ...

This is Penny. She belongs to a friend of ours, but lives with us and enjoys all the adventures our other horses do. If she sees us with a brush in our hands, she'll follow us around until we brush her!

Here are the extraordinary equines that manage to drag our butts up and down the mountainsides -- not just horses, but cherished members of our family. We'll start with Shorty -- the "Old Man" of the bunch. Isn't he beautiful? 26 years old, and we've had him since he was 5.

It's raining like crazy tonight, as it did last night, and a few nights previous. We have had a most remarkable cool and wet spring this year and are grateful for the much-needed water. The funny thing is that we've also had some of the most beautiful days in which to go riding. I've ridden more this year already than in all of last year. More rain predicted here and there through the weekend, but hoping the weather will allow at least one good day ride and maybe a short evening ride in the next few days.