Cycle of the Solstice: The Weekend

Our wood pile - our = Jim, Cliff and I. Cliff cuts the trees in the woods, limbs them, drags them out with the skidder and cuts them to length. Jim and I split and chuck. We have been working on it from time to time, here and there. Spent a couple hours there this Saturday. Got another good charge done.

A view of part of the farm on a beautiful fall afternoon...then off to the fair.

There were several new additions to the fair this year. They got rid of Expo 1 and 2 and combined it in one big, beautiful building called the Expo Center. And this Goat Playground sure made me happy. There were two in there and they were funny...they ran and jumped and butted and generally entertained. I love how they built it right around the tree. Very cool addition.

Saw so many kiddos from Dirigo. Drove down behind Calden. Saw Treva D and Ashley in some crowded building (he is the boy who always reminds me of my pig encounter while on my horse, since it all happened in his dooryard, in front of his dad). Saw Sam while walking around and saw Salena and Nick just a few people down at the horse pull. Crazy that Dirigo is such a small school and I saw so many seniors and older. Kind of shows how well (and why) I fit at Dirigo and why I did not like the preppy, catty nature of Leavitt. Definitely love the Dirigo kiddos.

Got some Christmas presents and got to the 3400 horse pull. That is the winning team there, facing out toward the ring. They were the only team to pull 7,950 pounds 12 feet. (That's from memory, but if you can find it online, more power to you, because I can't.) AND they had a woman on the team - she wasn't the driver, but whatever, she was out there, carrying the hitch.

This morning I got a quick hike in up Blueberry Mountain in Weld - made it in 36 minutes - fastest time yet. Pushed hard and enjoyed it. I sadly had to kind of ask Jim if I could go alone (my, things have recently changed!) I need time alone, at my own pace, without conversation and thankfully, he gets that and gets me. So off I went. It was sure good to be out there.

We had weather moving in from the west, but looking North - like here - Saddleback on the left running into the Longfellow Range (or Abraham) - it was clear. I debated a quick one up the front of Saddleback, but opted for the shorter drive.