Mid-October and Fall May Finally Have Arrived!

And here he is, Rowdy, once again gracing the top of the post.  The new medications he is on, while not making him as spry as he once was, have at least made him able to enjoy his life once again to a certain extent.  This photo was a week ago when we were still experiencing high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.  When Sam was working on the new bridge, he dug the dirt he needed out of what was then the dry creek and made a "swimming hole" right behind the house.  I know he had Rowdy in mind when he did that and Rowdy took advantage of the belly-deep water a couple of days last week.  It makes me happy to see him enjoying himself.

Here is how the new bridge looks at the moment.  Cement trucks leave really deep ruts in one's yard.  The cement was poured around 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon, and at 5pm the very next day, there was so much water going over this bridge that you almost couldn't tell it was there.  Some of the dirt was washed away and some repairs need to be made, but we were lucky the cement had 24 hours to cure before the deluge.  It ain't the prettiest bridge ever, but it suits the purpose.

As I mentioned, we had very unseasonably hot weather up until about a week ago.  The big change came last Thursday and we abruptly went from highs in the 80s to highs in the 50s.  And we have had mostly rainy overcast days since then.  But yesterday, it was at least sunny, as is today.  I hope to get in a good hike around the farm this afternoon.

Sam and five other guys returned home Sunday night from a ten day trip to Newfoundland on Canada's eastern coast, where they went on a moose hunt.  Each of them came home with a moose and Lee even came home with a black bear as well.  They drove out in two trucks, one pulling a trailer with chest freezers to bring back the meat.  It was a long drive and there was a ferry ride of several hours each way to Newfoundland, which is actually an island.  It sounds like a place I might like to visit someday.  Then Monday four of them got together and ground and wrapped several hundred pounds of moose meat.  Lee is on the left and Sam on the right in this photo.  I think they all had a really good time.

I held down the fort here while Sam was away, though I kept pretty busy. I volunteered at a Bingo fundraiser for the county K9 officers, which was a huge success.  I did my usual Tuesday agility class, had lunch with Sam's mom, made applesauce for the freezer and did some knitting and weaving.  On Thursday Mom arrived with some of the ladies from her book club for a two night stay at the newly remodeled guest house and Friday I went to Marietta with them.  They were a lot of fun to spend time with and I think they enjoyed their visit to the farm. 

Of course, Grover and I took our daily walks and here are some photos from those:

While we had temps in the 80s, it was still a bit hot during the day to spend much time in my unair-conditioned studio, but I did manage to get out there on many evenings.  Yesterday, I spent most of the day out there.  I did some mending of a pair of Sam's coveralls and a pair of my barn mittens as well as some weaving.  Here is what is on my looms:  Christmas towels on the 8 shaft loom,

 
and selvedge rugs on the 4 shaft loom.  

Sadly, I did not make a long enough warp for the rugs, so I think I have decided to not finish the second rug and just unweave it  and re-use the selvedges at another time,  when I do a better job of planning my warp.  I'm not sure what I did wrong.  It may be I just made rug #1 longer than I should have.  So it is a waste of warp, but that's cheaper than the selvedges and easier to get.

Upcoming events include a 3 day agility trial for Grover and me this coming weekend in Zanesville.  All the pressure seems to be off since we got our MACH last month, though we do need to accumulate some points in order to qualify for AKC Nationals, which we would like to do.  

Then I have a little over a week at home and I head off to Oregon with Sam's mom, Mary, to see Ian and his family.  The last time I saw my grandson, Wilder, he was only about 6 weeks old.  He will be 6 months old the day after we get there, so I expect him to be a lot different than last time I saw him.  Sam's mom hasn't had the opportunity to meet him yet and I know she is very much looking forward to doing so .

That's it for now.  Will I post again in October?  We'll see.  Meanwhile, here is pretty Apples the Welsh pony: