Photo Blast Part 2: Ride, Drive, Run!

A week at the farm with my Mom on holidays from work is not reality. She's got half the dishes washed before I even get the table cleared. She spoils me rotten. I come in from the barn and all I have to do is change and wash, and there's my supper.

The kids are spoiled too. Here's the Girl on the Ol Man's new machine:

It's not new. New ones are like Hummers. I like this one better. Here's a view of the new "race track" complete with old truck box/ cap combo which is likely to stay put and pretend to be an announcer's booth, or something.The goal is to ride a turn around the burn spot there, which is marked off by old rims. You can never have enough old rims lying around. So useful, and decorative too!
The straightaway (You can tell this was taken before we wore the track down!):We rode the horses down here too. Turns out, parked vehicles don't actually eat horses at all!

I got a chance to get on the old 430 and push some wrecks around. Oh joy. I love this thing. I love the sound of the 2 cylinder engine (them are a couple of giant pistons) and the way the gear shift chatters when you put it in gear but it always goes in. I love the shift pattern- something crazy like R 1 5 - 3 4 2. I love how it looks like it should not run, but it does! Every day.

My Girl is big enough to drive it now. I shared the seat with her so she could try it out. She had a hard time with the concept of getting the clutch in first so that the drive gear isn't pushing the the tractor forward and fighting the brakes. But she'll get it.

I've decided that the 4-wheeler is really good for ADD. She has to concentrate, but it's fun, not torturous, like sitting in class. There's an instant reward, a cause & effect. It's good for hand-eye-body co-ordination. And it's damn fun. They're not allowed to take it out of first gear. Despite that, they've figured out how to make massive ruts in the gravel !

We really need to get them a full face helmet. Because then they'll be safer and be really bitchin cool lookin. The Boy is convinced that he is a Perfeshnul Stunt Rider and in his mind, there are bleachers full of screaming fans.

Look at my dog. He cracks me up.
He went for over a week without being walked on the leash or seeing another dog. He didn't suffer. We took him down to the junkyard for a crazy run a few times each day. He loved it. Imagine the long grass waving and no dog in sight. Funny. The corn went from knee high to over my head in a week. It grows like weeds.

Our horses got some things to do too. We didn't ride for any great lengths. In fact we never even got out of a trot. My back hurt terribly all week and I wanted to be gentle with myself. I kind of think it's better to ride for 45 minutes every day than for two hours once a month, like I have. Although last year I hardly rode at all, with the drugs makin me all dizzy and stuff.

Saddling a horse takes so long. Saddling two is prohibitively time consuming. We can ride a trot bareback. A bit more practise and we'll be loping bareback. That's how I rode 25 years ago!

We're learning how to sidepass:
She was lame as a yearling. We took a chance on her and I'm so grateful that we did. I don't recommend taking on a lame horse, but it worked out for us.

He's not ribsy anymore but already getting a grass gut. Just can't get it right. But just look at the shine on this horse! He glows. I never get tired of looking at him.

Speaking of Never Get Tired of Looking at Him...